United Kingdom to designate Russian Wagner a terrorist organisation

(Patria) - Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, is set to be proscribed as a terrorist group by the British government, meaning it will be illegal to be a member of or support the organisation.

A draft order to be laid in Parliament will allow its assets to be categorised as terrorist assets and seized, the BBC reported.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Wagner is "violent and
destructive... a military tool of Vladimir Putin’s Russia". She said the group’s activities in Ukraine and Africa pose a “threat to global security”.

“Wagner’s continued destabilising activities only serve to further the Kremlin’s political objectives,” she added.

“They are terrorists, plain and simple, and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law,” she said.

Wagner has played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and has operated in Syria and African countries including Libya and Mali. Its fighters have been accused of a range of crimes, including the murder and torture of Ukrainian citizens. The United States said in 2020 that Wagner soldiers had laid mines around the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

In July, the UK said the group had carried out “executions and torture in Mali and the Central African Republic”.

The group’s name will now be added to those of other banned organisations in the United
Kingdom, such as Hamas and Boko Haram.

The Terrorism Act 2000 gives the Home Secretary the power to proscribe an organisation if they believe it is concerned in terrorism. Before that, only organisations concerned in terrorism in Northern Ireland could be proscribed. The proscription order will make it a criminal offence to support the group, including organising meetings directed towards furthering the organisation’s aims, or publicly expressing support for its aims or highlighting its flag or logo. Committing an offence under the proscription could lead to 14 years in prison or a fine of up to £5,000.

The government has been under pressure from MPs for months to ban the group. The
Foreign Office has already sanctioned the group, including freezing the assets of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and several senior commanders.

Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said in July: “Sanctions are not enough, the UK needs to proscribe Wagner Group for what it is – a terrorist organisation.”